Search Results (176)

Living terraced cultural landscapes (LTCLs) bind together agricultural heritage, ecological function, and local culture. International instruments such as the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments, Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0, and Preparing World Heritage Nominations guide heritage protection, but none integrates all four dimensions, and no LTCL-specific framework exists to diagnose a candidate site before formal nomination. Following PRISMA 2020, this review synthesized 61 peer-reviewed studies from the Web of Science Core Collection (2012–2026; screening Cohen’s κ = 0.82). Keyword co-occurrence mapping in VOSviewer, combined with manual thematic coding, produced six clusters that we consolidated into four analytical dimensions: heritage value, landscape integrity, tourism–heritage balance, and governance and protection. Reading across these dimensions revealed three gaps—no tool integrates all four in an operable form, the balance between tourism and protection lacks an explicit evaluative mechanism, and socioeconomic stressors such as rural labor out-migration fall outside official criteria—together pointing to a fourth, procedural gap: the absence of pre-nomination diagnosis. On this basis we propose IAF-LTCL, a preliminary conceptual framework of four dimensions and 22 elements, designed so that strength in one dimension does not offset weakness in another. The framework is not yet empirically validated; we present it as a structured starting point that heritage managers can use for pre-nomination self-assessment, pending future field validation. Full article

Accurate mapping of landslide-affected land surfaces from very-high-resolution optical imagery is essential for mountainous land monitoring and hazard-related land management, yet it remains difficult in complex terrain because landslide bodies are fragmented, elongated, shadowed, and easily confused with bare soil, terraces, roads, and erosion features. This study presents TM-Net as a task-oriented decoder-centric architecture for landslide-affected land surface mapping. The Inception Token Mixer is adopted from InceptionNeXt as an encoder-side component, whereas TM-Block is newly designed as a decoder-side twin-path refinement module for boundary recovery, slender target preservation, and complex-background suppression. On the fused public benchmark, TM-Net achieved the highest IoU (73.56%) and F1 (84.76%) under the identical evaluation protocol. On XBLD, TM-Net achieved the highest IoU (44.94%) and F1 (62.01%). These results indicate that TM-Net provides a favorable balance between missed detections and false-positive predictions for mapping visually identifiable landslide-affected land surfaces in heterogeneous mountainous landscapes. Full article

This study examines 4811 immovable cultural heritage sites in Mianyang City to address how these sites are spatially clustered, how their distribution varies across historical periods and heritage types, and how the observed spatial patterns are associated with selected natural-environmental conditions. The main objective is to identify the spatial distribution, spatiotemporal evolution, and site-selection characteristics of immovable cultural heritage sites in Mianyang and to provide an environmental and spatial basis for heritage conservation and territorial management. Using ArcGIS-based spatial analysis, this study applies average nearest neighbor analysis, kernel density estimation, standard deviational ellipse analysis, mean center analysis, spatial overlay statistics, and GeoDetector. The explanatory analysis focuses on three natural-environmental variables: elevation, slope, and distance to rivers. The results show that: (1) The sites are widely distributed and exhibit multi-core clustering, with dense concentrations in the south and central-east and sparse distribution in the northwest; (2) their spatiotemporal evolution follows an alternating “agglomeration–diffusion–re-agglomeration” pattern, with the centroid shifting along the middle and lower Fujiang River valley; and (3) the sites are mainly concentrated in low-elevation, gently sloping, water-adjacent river-valley plains and shallow hilly terraces. These findings provide a partial environmental interpretation of the spatial distribution of immovable cultural heritage sites in Mianyang and offer exploratory evidence for identifying priority conservation areas, supporting conceptual heritage-corridor planning, and promoting sustainable heritage management. The study also suggests that future research should further integrate historical transportation networks, administrative centers, population migration, economic activities, religious landscapes, and military-political contexts to explain the broader cultural landscape processes behind heritage distribution. Full article

Terracing is widely used for soil conservation in hilly tea plantations, yet its influence on tea quality formation across landscape positions remains insufficiently understood. This study compared terraced and sloping tea gardens at summit, midslope, and footslope positions in a subtropical tea-growing region of Hunan Province, China. Soil nutrients, leaf nitrogen (LeafN) status, nitrogen-assimilation enzyme activities, chlorophyll characteristics, and amino acid profiles were evaluated to explore the ecological links between terrace management and tea quality formation. Terracing significantly increased soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN), exhibiting peak increases of 18.1% and 32.8%, respectively, at the midslope position. These soil nutrient improvements significantly altered leaf carbon-nitrogen balance, resulting in lower leaf C/N ratios, a 49.3% increase in chlorophyll content, and a marked enrichment of total free amino acids (particularly glutamic acid and arginine) at the midslope position. While sloping gardens showed a conventional decline in fertility and quality from footslope to summit, terraced gardens exhibited a distinct midslope optimum. Redundancy analysis indicated that TN accounted for a substantial proportion of variation in tea quality indicators. These patterns are primarily driven by terrace-mediated nutrient redistribution and improved hillslope drainage conditions at the midslope position. Overall, the findings suggest that terracing may modify hillslope nutrient redistribution patterns and contribute to optimized nitrogen utilization and tea quality stability in mountainous tea-growing systems. Full article

Previous morphological studies have confirmed that Canton settlements maintain a stable cultural landscape sequence consisting of ponds, open spaces, ancestral halls, residences, and forests. Villages in the Dongjiang River Basin exhibit an inherent coordination between cultural landscape patterns and rainwater drainage and storage systems, contributing to strong resilience against frequent heavy rainfall events. This study selects Jiangbian Village in Dongguan as a case study and develops a quantitative analysis framework by integrating GIS and SWMM (Storm Water Management Model). Using DEM-derived terrain data and land use interpretation, a hydrological model incorporating ponds, drainage channels, paddy fields, and threshing floors was established. Five levels of functional failure severity and five design rainfall return periods were applied to systematically evaluate hydrological regulation performance. The results show that (1) ponds serve as the core water-storage component of the entire system, and a 25% reduction in their functionality leads to a substantial decline in flood mitigation capacity. Paddy field ridges and drainage channels jointly provide secondary buffering functions, while village boundary structures play a significant role in flood regulation. These landscape elements possess distinct hydrological functions and collectively shape the production, living, and ecological landscapes of the village. (2) Influenced by steep topographic gradients, the village adopts a spatial configuration characterized by horizontal alleys and terraced forms, which enhance transverse drainage and connect ponds through longitudinal channels. This comb-like settlement pattern demonstrates strong adaptation to local terrain conditions. This study reveals the terrain-adaptation characteristics of traditional Canton villages and provides valuable insights for the sustainable conservation of rural cultural landscapes. Full article

Terraced vineyard landscapes represent complex cultural systems shaped by long-term interactions between geomorphology, agriculture and rural heritage. This study investigates the terraced viticultural landscape of Castiglione di Sicilia, located on the northern slope of Mount Etna (Sicily, Italy), through an integrated GIS-based framework combining Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), rural micro-structure mapping, visibility analysis and slow mobility assessment. Attention was given to dry-stone walls and traditional rural micro-structures, recognized as key components of the historical landscape identity of Etna. The methodology integrated geomorphological variables, vineyard distribution, dry-stone wall density and slope suitability within a Rural Micro-Structure Intensity Framework (RMSI) developed to identify areas characterized by stronger continuity of terraced rural landscapes. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the robustness of the weighting scheme. Slow mobility corridors were subsequently analyzed according to their relationship with landscape continuity and scenic visibility. The results reveal a strong spatial association between vineyards, dry-stone wall systems and historically structured terraced landscapes. Visibility analysis highlighted that highly visible areas do not fully correspond to the highest RMSI values, reflecting the geomorphological complexity of the volcanic environment. The corridor providing the best balance between scenic visibility, rural heritage continuity and route accessibility emerged as the most suitable option for landscape-oriented planning. The proposed framework supports landscape-sensitive planning and sustainable territorial valorization in Mediterranean terraced agricultural systems. Full article

Large-scale landscape transformation in mountainous regions during the Late Iron Age remains insufficiently integrated into broader debates on European urbanism. In southwestern Transylvania, extensive slope terracing came to define the spatial core of the Dacian political centre. This study examines the scale, organization, and social implications of this engineered landscape using high-resolution LiDAR data and spatial modelling. Over 4000 anthropogenic terraces were identified, and their spatial patterning was analysed through Kernel Density Estimation (300 m and 800 m radii) in order to evaluate intensity gradients and territorial articulation. The results indicate compact nuclei of high terrace concentration embedded within a broader, yet continuous, system structured along ridge corridors and circulation routes. The spatial correlation between terrace density and elevated architectural features suggests differentiated building practices and hierarchical organization within a territorially extensive settlement pattern. Rather than representing isolated fortified sites, the Dacian mountain core emerges as an integrated and infrastructurally connected landscape. These findings support the interpretation of the area as a form of Late Iron Age low-density urbanism, in which habitation, mobility, and social differentiation were materially embedded in large-scale topographic modification. Full article

Mediterranean rural landscapes are globally important biocultural systems in which long-standing low-intensity farming, grazing, terracing, and agroforestry have historically maintained fine-grained habitat mosaics and high vascular-plant diversity. This review adopts a systematic scoping approach focused on farmland abandonment and High Nature Value (HNV) farming, with a search window extending from 1996 to April 2026. Following PRISMA 2020 and PRISMA-ScR principles, the review maps evidence on plant richness, diversity indices, floristic turnover, indicator species, and vegetation trajectories across Mediterranean agricultural and semi-natural systems. The literature shows that abandonment does not produce a single biodiversity outcome. Early abandonment can maintain or temporarily increase local richness through overlap among remnant grassland species, annuals, and colonizing shrubs, whereas prolonged abandonment more often drives shrub encroachment, woody dominance, and losses of open-habitat specialists. By contrast, HNV systems such as extensive grazing, agro-pastoral mosaics, wood pastures, and dehesa/montado-like agroforestry more consistently maintain habitat interfaces, beta diversity, and plant assemblages associated with cultural landscape continuity. The review argues that biodiversity-sensitive policy in the Mediterranean should move beyond the binary of abandonment versus conservation, and instead support landscape-specific combinations of passive succession, targeted grazing, agroforestry renewal, and rural livelihood viability. Full article

Accurately mapping agricultural land use in fragmented hilly and mountainous areas is crucial for resource management but is severely challenged by spatial heterogeneity. While high-resolution (HR) images excel at delineating fine parcel boundaries, their limited spectral and temporal information often leads to spectral confusion among diverse agricultural types. To address this limitation, this study proposes a novel spatiotemporal feature-driven geographical zoning method integrating vegetation phenology, topography, and human activity. This zoning strategy decouples the complex global classification task into relatively simple local problems, providing explicit geoscientific constraints for subsequent classification. The proposed method was validated by classifying plain open-field croplands, sloping croplands, terraces, and greenhouses in the hilly and mountainous areas of Beijing using 2 m resolution satellite images. Compared to traditional global classification methods, the proposed zoning-based method increased the overall accuracy from 84.81% to 90.81%, the Kappa coefficient from 0.74 to 0.85, and the Intersection over Union (IoU) from 77.85% to 90.85%. The advantages of geographic zoning were particularly evident in mitigating spatial heterogeneity and enhancing boundary precision. These findings indicate that integrating dynamic geographical zoning as a priori knowledge successfully bridges the gap between HR spatial details and environmental contexts, offering a robust solution for mapping fragmented agricultural landscapes. Full article

Tailings management presents a critical challenge for the mining industry, particularly in mountainous regions with high seismicity and steep slopes. This article presents the development and design criteria for dry stacking of filtered tailings as a sustainable and safe alternative to conventional slurry tailings storage facilities (TSFs). The study focuses on the extreme conditions of a mountainous location characterized by complex topography with 10% slopes, space constraints, and significant seismic activity defined by a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.3 g. The design methodology, which incorporates layered compaction of the filtered tailings to achieve a geotechnically stable structure, is detailed for a filtered TSF consisting of 7 terraces, each 10 m high, reaching a total height of 70 m. This approach minimizes the risk of liquefaction and prepares the filtered tailings surface for progressive closure, with unit operating costs (OPEX) of 2.5 USD/t. The results of the physical stability analysis confirm the viability of this solution: pseudo-static stability analysis yielded a safety factor of 1.22, demonstrating a significant reduction in water consumption and potential environmental impact. It is concluded that the dry disposal of filtered tailings is a technically robust option for tailings management in extreme mountainous environments, offering greater long-term safety guarantees and facilitating landscape integration, thus setting a precedent for mining projects in similar geographies. Full article

Under the combined pressures of urbanization and tourism development, terraced agricultural heritage sites are increasingly threatened by the degradation of traditional landscapes, the weakening of living cultural practices, and mismatches between the supply and demand of cultural ecosystem services (CESs). As a representative type of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHSs), the rice terrace landscapes of southern China have formed an integrated system of forests, villages, terraces, and water networks, embodying multiple values related to production, ecology, landscape, and culture. To support the coordination of heritage conservation, tourism development, and the transformation of cultural value, this study takes the core area of the Longji Terraced Fields as a case study and develops an improved SolVES–IPA collaborative assessment framework from the perspective of tourist perception. Four CES categories are examined: recreational value, aesthetic value, historical and cultural value, and educational value. The results show that (1) the four CES categories exhibit significant spatial differentiation. Recreational and aesthetic values are mainly concentrated in high-altitude viewing spaces, whereas historical, cultural, and educational values depend more heavily on traditional architectural spaces and interpretive nodes. (2) Clear supply–demand mismatches exist across CES categories. Recreational value is constrained by limited activity diversity; aesthetic value is limited by inadequate architectural harmony; historical and cultural value is primarily restricted by insufficient continuity of living traditions; and educational value is constrained by incomplete interpretive content and single presentation formats. (3) CES optimization in the Longji Terraced Fields should adopt both type-specific and hierarchical intervention strategies, including priority optimization for high-value units with critical shortcomings, near-term improvement for high-value units with general shortcomings, functional enhancement for medium-value units with critical shortcomings, progressive optimization for medium-value units with general shortcomings, and potential cultivation of low-value units. Based on these findings, this study proposes several optimization directions, including strengthening participatory experiences, promoting the coordinated renewal of the architectural landscape, creating multisensory cultural display spaces, and establishing a multidimensional interpretation network. The improved SolVES–IPA collaborative assessment framework developed in this study integrates CES spatial identification, supply–demand diagnosis, and optimization priority setting, providing a methodological reference and practical support for enhancing cultural services and promoting the coordinated development of heritage conservation and cultural tourism in the Longji Terraced Fields and similar agricultural heritage sites. Full article

The study presents new data on the distribution, mapping, and morphostratigraphic characteristics of pediment deposits in the Montefeltro region (Italian Apennines), within the Val Marecchia Nappe. The Montefeltro landscape represents a clear example of morphology controlled by lithostructural features, with reliefs emerging from the surrounding terrain due to selective erosion. Its evolution has also been strongly influenced by climatic variations during the Middle–Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. Broad, gently sloping surfaces at the base of structural reliefs, together with associated debris deposits, are interpreted as erosional–depositional pediments formed under cold-climate, periglacial conditions during major Pleistocene glacial phases. Stratigraphic data from boreholes allowed the identification of pediment boundaries, thicknesses, and spatial extent, enabling reconstruction of the relict paleotopography and correlation with fluvial terraces. Two distinct lithological assemblages indicate different sediment sources and slope evolution pathways. Over time, pediments became disconnected from the present topography and were progressively dissected and terraced by fluvial incision, while recent slope adjustment is limited to modern drainage systems. This evolution reflects the combined influence of tectonic structure, lithology, and Quaternary climate change, confirming a regional trend of intensified fluvial deepening in the Marche Apennines. The study focuses on three representative areas: San Marino, Montecopiolo and Sassi Simone and Simoncello. Full article

While dissolution dominates the genesis of karst systems, physical erosion processes also play a significant role in their development. Lowering of the water table exposes caves to vadose conditions, reducing roof-supporting buoyancy and potentially leading to catastrophic conduit ceiling failure and cave collapse. The locations and extents of collapse areas are not always identifiable at the landscape surface. High-resolution topographic data derived from LiDAR were used to develop a digital elevation model (DEM) that isolates areas that may have sustained episodes of cave collapse and improves our understanding of past hydrogeological and geomorphological conditions of the system. Cave level delineation from LiDAR data was used to assign elevations to cave entrances. Spatial susceptibility to past collapse was evaluated using a weighted multi-criteria analysis that integrated terrain slope, proximity to mapped cave entrances, and distance to surface streams. Areas identified as having a high likelihood of collapse spatially coincide with cave level contacts and known karst windows and terraces, indicating that this replicated methodology is effective as an initial survey tool for identifying collapse-prone areas in karst landscapes. Full article

Moray (Cusco, Peru) represents one of the most sophisticated examples of Inca agricultural engineering, where architecture, environmental management, and constructive systems converge to generate controlled microclimates for agricultural experimentation. Recognized as an important archaeological heritage site, Moray provides valuable insight into ancestral Andean strategies for adapting agriculture to complex high-altitude environments. However, the site is increasingly exposed to environmental pressures associated with climatic variability, soil erosion, structural collapses, and tourism intensity. This study aims to analyze the relationship between microclimates, geometric design, and constructive sustainability of the Moray archaeological complex through integrated spatial, functional, and constructive analyses, supported by digital tools such as Google Earth Pro, AutoCAD 2023, SketchUp 2023, and environmental simulations developed by Andrew Marsh. The research examines the geometric configuration of the circular terraces, which present radii between 45 and 65 m, heights ranging from 3 to 5 m, and slope variations between 14% and 48%, generating temperature gradients of 12–15 °C between upper and lower levels. These conditions enabled the Incas to experiment with and adapt diverse ecological species across different thermal zones. The study also evaluates the irrigation and infiltration systems composed of gravel, sand, and stone layers that ensured soil stability and moisture regulation. Climate data from SENAMHI (2019–2024) indicate that Moray is located in a semi-arid meso-Andean environment, reinforcing its interpretation as an ancestral environmental laboratory. The results demonstrate Inca mastery in integrating environmental design, hydrological engineering, and agricultural experimentation while also identifying current conservation challenges related to erosion processes, structural deterioration, and tourism pressure. This research contributes to understanding Moray as a climate-sensitive heritage system, offering insights relevant to contemporary strategies for sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, and heritage conservation in Andean regions. Full article

In recent years, numerous studies have been carried out on the landscape of the 5th-15th centuries in Catalonia. When studying settlement, we will assess research on the morphogenesis of villages and highlight differences across regions. We will also see the characteristics of the hamlets of the Early Middle Ages and those of the Pyrenean lands. Farmsteads, which were made up of a house and some land that depended on it, were a fundamental element of the landscape of many regions of Catalonia. To understand the characteristics of the agricultural areas, we will be interested in the concentric shapes and coaxial strips. Furthermore, to understand the landscape of the regions of Lleida and Tortosa, we must understand the transformations that occurred in the Islamic era and the diffusion of ditches and irrigated spaces. Likewise, we will examine the relationship we discover between the coombs and the first medieval settlements and necropolises. It is also important to determine when and why the terraces were built. This study will address the evolution of the landscape throughout Catalonia, with special emphasis on the most recent contributions relating to the regions of Barcelona and Lleida. This research has been based primarily on the study of written documents and the analysis of what is preserved on the ground, which we can learn about above all through aerial photographs. Full article